Principle-based design for collective growth: From knowledge-sharing to explanatory knowledge-building discourse

Abstract

This study reports on classroom studies of knowledge building, supported with Knowledge Forum, conducted over two years with two teachers new to knowledge building and their Grade 4 students. This study examines how the two teachers engaged in increasingly sophisticated classroom design over time, and how their students moved towards more collective work and productive discourse. Obstacles and opportunities were identified as the researcher worked with the teachers to emphasize principle-based and collective design. Analyses indicated that, over time, students participated more in Knowledge Forum in terms of community awareness and connectedness, and moved more from knowledge-sharing to explanatory knowledge-building discourse. Analyses of students' posttest scores on science tests indicated that students' Knowledge Forum participation was positively correlated with domain understanding. Examining new teachers' shifts in classroom designs and their students' changes towards explanatory discourse may have implications for identifying the developmental trajectories of knowledge-building dynamics and practice. © ISLS.